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Animal welfare
‘Stolen’ dogs died in hot truck The theft of six dogs was apparently a hoax, and all the animals died in a hot vehicle.
A small dog stood at the Langley off-leash park where a Delta dog walker claimed six dogs were stolen last week. The dogs were later found deceased in Abbotsford, and the theft appears to have been a hoax. People have been leaving messages of sympathy at the Langley park.
by Matthew Claxton and Heather Colpitts news@langleyadvance.com
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The SPCA is now investigating the tragic case of six dogs that were reported stolen last week, only to be found dead in Abbotsford. The theft was apparently a hoax to cover the accidental death of the animals. Langley RCMP and the SPCA are now investigating the case, looking at the woman who had charge of the dogs, one of which was her own. On Monday evening, the Langley RCMP confirmed that the Brookswood at about 1:30 p.m. She told local police and the dogs were dead and is looking at owners of the other five dogs an investigation involving public that she had loaded the dogs into mischief. the back of her canopied pickup “Police believe the six dogs truck, then gone to use the washperished in the back of the dog room. walker’s vehicle in the heat of In about 10 minutes, someone the day,” said Langley RCMP had taken them, Cpl. Holly Marks. she said. “The bodies of the “We do have the Police were dogs have been bodies of the dogs.” operating under located and will the impression be recovered by Lorie Chortyk that the dogs had the SPCA.” been stolen, as no The bodies one had seen any dogs running of Mia, Oscar, Buddy, Molly, loose in the neighbourhood, and Teemie, and Salty were found in none of them had been found by a ditch in Abbotsford, according animal control officers. to the SPCA. The owners called for the The dog walker who had taken return of their animals in the the dogs on the morning of media and spent hours searching Tuesday, May 13, had claimed the area around the Brookswood that all six dogs vanished from the back of her truck while it was park from which they had parked at an off leash dog park in allegedly been stolen. Dozens of
Heather Colpitts Langley Advance
people turned up for a rally on Thursday evening to pass out missing dog posters, including the dog walker. Alesha and Al MacLellan of Petsearchers Canada, who had been helping the search for the owners, said the dog walker confessed on Monday that the dogs died from heat exhaustion in the back of her truck. On the Petsearchers website, they reported that the dog walker told them she concocted the story about the theft in a blind panic. She was then going to speak to the Langley RCMP. The dogs were found and have now been recovered, said Lorie Chortyk, the BC SPCA’s manager of community relations. “We do have the bodies of the dogs,” Chortyk said Tuesday. All six of them will undergo a necropsy to determine how they
died. The SPCA, which has taken over the investigation into the dogs’ death, will be speaking with various people involved in the situation this week, Chortyk said. As the investigation is in an early stage, she couldn’t say much yet about the circumstances. Once evidence has been gathered, it will be presented to the B.C. Crown Counsel’s office to determine what charges may be laid. The Langley RCMP is helping the SPCA, and is running a separate investigation into public mischief over the apparently false report of the theft. Memorials for the dead dogs have popped up at the dog park in Brookswood, and a petition is circulating online to increase penalties for animal cruelty.
Labour relations
Teachers bring rotating strikes to Langley Parents are being asked not to send their kids to school but the buildings will be open. by Heather Colpitts hcolpitts@langleyadvance.com
Langley public schools will be behind picket lines Tuesday, May 27 as teachers enter phase 2 of their job action against the provincial government. Rotating strikes by BC Teachers’ Federation members will take place over four days starting Monday.
Langley School District 35 has sent a letter home to parents to explain the implications. “As a result of the strike action, teachers will not be reporting for duty. While school facilities will remain open under the supervision of school district administration, we will be unable to provide students with instruction or appropriate supervision during this period of job action. We are therefore requesting that parents keep their children at home,” said superintendent Suzanne Hoffman. The daycares and preschools that operate in Langley public schools will remain open and in operation but StrongStart Centre programs and facility rentals will be cancelled
for that day. District school buses will also not run that day. “It is the sincere hope of the Board of Education that this dispute will be concluded quickly and that normal school operations will resume as quickly as possible,” Hoffman added. The district will provide information updates through its website (www.sd35. bc.ca), on the district Facebook page and its Twitter feed, as well as providing the information to radio stations. The province and teachers are arguing over pay and class size and composition, as well as the length of the contract.